Natalie's Tale
by Werewolf Cub
Summary: Natalie undergoes the worst fear of all the children of Gavaldon: she is taken by the Schoolmaster. Follow her journey through the years as she struggles to learn enough to survive her fairytale (Yeah, THAT wasn't a bad summary. *Sarcasm*). Set before Agatha and Sophie. As this is my first story, flames are accepted, embraced, welcomed, and encouraged.
1. Waiting

**Yay! My first story. Totally excited for the next books! First full SGE story EVER!**

Waiting

The children of Gavaldon waited. The wind rattled the branches of the trees and the children shivered.

Everyone over sixteen patrolled outside. Those the correct ages bit their covers to keep from crying; no one wanted to leave, not even the future Evil students. The younger ones, the ones still "children," were scared that the Schoolmaster would make an exception on the age.

A stranger to the village would be frightened as well. The grim faces of the guards, the boarded up windows and doors, the dead silence that pervaded the place; even the animals sensed the humans fear.

The dreaded night had come. The School Master was coming. Hopelessness filled the hearts of everyone, because they all knew, deep inside, that if they could stop him

they would have, long ago . . .

**Yeah, it hasn't really begun yet. Tell me what you think! R&R Please!**


	2. The Dreaded Night

**Ok, I got two views and unrealistically excited. Here it is! I doubt anyone cares! It is for my own enjoyment, after all.**

The Dreaded Night

Natalie sat on her windowsill with a book on her lap, legs dangling, as she watched the rising sun turned her world from dark, to gray, to normal. Natalie watched everything from the birds in the air to the bugs on the ground. The townsfolk thought it was strange for a young child to spend her days watching instead of playing, thinking instead of talking, but her father, the baker, was proud to have such a child.

She was the elder to Josephine and Jack, twins of ten, and younger sister to eighteen year old Thomas. Her mother's name was Natasha, and her father's name was John. Once, long ago, she had had an aunt, but she had been taken seventeen years ago, and no one had known what became of her until the day Mr. Deauville finished her story. Accompanied by the other three tales came the story of the Little Mermaid, Anya's story. Thus the Natasha the baker's wife finally learned the fate of her sister. It was her book which Natalie pursued.

oOo

Natalie lay curled under the sheets. The sounds of morning came muffled through the window. The birds chirping in the forest, the noises of the animals, the sound of hammering from every house. The last was the only thing not a daily occurance.

Natalie could hear Thomas and her father nailing up the boys room window. She and Josephine's had been done yesterday. Natalie slid her legs off the bed and got up as gently as she could so as not to wake her sister. She dressed herself in old, ragged, dirty clothes which reeked and looked into the mirror. Her face was smudged, there were circles under her eyes and her hair was tangled as she had neither washed her face nor braided her hair the night before. Slowly, she picked up the shears on the dresser and grabbed a lock of auburn hair. She didn't want to do it, she loved having long hair, but it was necessary. She cut it off close to the head and grabbed another piece as she turned away from the mirror. She cut everything unevenly and the painful deed was done in a few moments.

She peeked back into the mirror. Her reflection neither looked worse nor better than before, as now, there was no hair, and before, it was messy. Natalie felt lopsided from the loss of the weight on her head. She didn't look down at the hair. It was gone, mother always said it was bad to dwell on the past. She turned her head in the mirror. Her hair had been her favorite thing about herself. She thought, with a little satisfaction, that she looked much closer to "ugly" than before.

Before leaving the room she looked at the picture of her aunt at age thirteen. Fear bubbled in her stomach. She, as did many children, was positive that she would be taken. After all, her aunt had been.

She left the bedroom and went into the kitchen where her mother was making breakfast.

"Good morning, Natalie," She said, looking worried. "Remember what I told you, be as bad as you can today, okay sweetie?"

Natalie nodded silently. She didn't want to be bad, but she didn't want to leave either. Instead of helping with breakfast, she left her mother and went outside.

_There, _She thought, _That should be pretty bad._

She sat down on the porch and racked her brain for something else bad to do. She, herself, didn't think that it would do much good. The School Master has four years to find the good and bad children and one day of doing the opposite won't change his decision. Praying in church because you were bribed was worse than not going at all, and doing bad things because your parents beg you to and because you don't want to leave was better than doing what you usually did. She gazed at the village deep in thought. Now that she thought about it, there was nothing, not even prettying or dirtying yourself, that would stop the School Master as he had already decided. Natalie wondered whether she was the first person to guess and accept this.

Her gaze wandered to a lone chicken nearby. _What the heck_ she thought, standing up and striding towards it. She made she not to kick it too hard.

oOo

Natalie felt filthy; both inside and out. Dusk was arriving and everyone was going into their house. She had spent the entire day with her friend Maybelle doing horrendous things: first, they washed their faces in mud, then stole food, scared animals, threw mud at everyone, didn't do a single thing to help, took a break to read, and then rounded off the whole day by hiding for three hours with thirteen others, a plot given to them by Arnold, one of the most likely candidates for Evil School. They had scared everyone out of their wits and were sent to bed with no supper.

She sat on the edge of her bed and listened. Orders were being shouted, parents called for children and one lat chorus of "Blessed are the Ordinary" faded from the air, leaving the town enclosed in fearful silence.

"Natalie!" came her mother's voice. "Are you still here?"

"Yes mother!" she answered hurrying from her room.

"Good. Into the basement, now. Be quiet and don't make a sound."

She was holding three dummies the size and shape of her three children. As she followed the twins down the stairs, Natalie noticed that the largest one had a wig made from her own hair.

Her mother banged the trapdoor shut behind them. They could hear a rattling of keys and turning of locks. Natalie heard the muffled voice of her mother calling and heavier steps came across the floor. In a moment there was the sound of hammering and banging coming directly over the door. The both pairs of feet left and silence came from above.

oOo

Natalie sat in the corner of the basement with the twins on either side. There was one old blanket which they huddled under as they watched the single candle and waited for the screams that meant the School Master had made his selection.

It didn't come.

Every second they counted dragged into a minute, and every hour lasted to long to know. Josephine was whimpering and Jack gripped Natalie's hand so hard that she lost feeling in it. She herself was more scared than she had been on the night when Anya was taken.

She locked her eyes on the flickering candle. Was it her imagination, or was it getting dimmer? She watched it, and suddenly it went out. The basement was dark except for the light which came through the cracks of the boarded up window. Josephine gave a soft wail of fear.

"Did you hear that?" whispered Jack suddenly, causing the girls to start.

They all listened quietly, and again came a creak from a board upstairs. Josephine began to cry.

"It's a creaky house," said Natalie quickly. "It creaks all the time. It's only more noticeable because we're listening."

Steeling herself, Natalie stood up and strode over to the table where the candle was. She fumbled for a match. She was shaking so hard that she had to strike it four times before it lit, and when it illuminated the room, Jack shouted and Josephine screamed. Natalie's head jerked up from the candle and there, at the foot of the stairs, only two steps away, was a Shadow; but there wasn't any light or object to make it. It had to be

The School Master.

Natalie dropped the match and grabbed the candle. In the light of the dying match she threw the candle at him and stumbled back to the twins. She dragged them into the farthest corner held them tightly. Jack was shouting for help, Josephine was still screaming on the top of her lungs and Natalie was too frightened to do anything except hold them. She could barely hear the adults shouting above looking for the commotion above Josephine's screams.

Suddenly, something grabbed her leg and jerked her away from her siblings and across the floor of the basement. She was screaming before she knew it. Screaming and kicking and twisting. Natalie left her brother and sister behind as she flew up the stairs, through the broken trapdoor, and then through the front door. She screamed as she left the porch and was dragged across the street. Down an alley, through the window of a house, into a bedroom, and Natalie was joined by another thrashing figure.

The School Master dragged them across town square and towards the forest. Only two guards were there, the rest had ran towards the bakery. Before the guards realized what they were, the School Master had escaped into the forest with his victims. Natalie craned her head and the last view she ever had of her home was upside down and of two guards staring after her with the glow of torches reflecting on the walls of far away buildings, and then the forest hid all of this from view. The last sound was Josephine's distraught scream, and then the forest took that as well.

Natalie gaped for another moment before coming to her senses. She had to get away. As she slid past a tree, she grabbed a protruding root. This resulted in nothing except a scraped hand. Her unidentified companion was still kicking at everything they could reach. From the sounds they were making, Natalie guessed that it was a girl. Natalie tried to grab something again, and ended with a rather large broken branch. She was about to throw it away in disgust, when her partner shrieked,

"Don't throw it away! Give it to me!"

The girl snatched it from Natalie's hands and twisted herself around she raised the stick to hit the School Master when they abruptly stopped and the shadow disappeared. Something was creeping around Natalie and she was lifted off the ground and onto a branch. Before either girl could do anything, the branch had coiled back and shot them like a slingshot onto another branch. This continued for quite a while.

When Natalie and the other girl finally tumbled into the top of the tree, Natalie was finally able to get a good look at her partner by the light of the moon. It was the thirteen year old niece of the pastor, Monica. She had a hooked nose and a blind eye and bullied all the younger children but managed to get away with it. She was looking at Natalie as well and scowled.

Suddenly, there was a cracking noise coming from the object neither girl had noticed before. From what looked like an egg, hatched a huge skeletal bird. The girls screamed in unison, and Monica grabbed Natalie and shoved her towards the monster. It glared down at her with its glowing red eyes before giving a screech and snatching both girls up. In just a moment, they were flying.

Monica was screaming and thrashing again while Natalie just gripped the toes of the bird and hoped she wouldn't fall. They soared through the dark forest and suddenly into a huge patch of briars and thorns. Natalie covered her face with an arm and after a minute of of being scraped by thorns, they emerged into bright sunlight. Far, far below was a gorgeous castle of pinks and blues beside a crystal blue lake and under a rainbow; farther away, was another castle of sinister black surrounded by an inky black moat which was connected to the lake, it was shrouded by fog.

Natalie gazed in awe and her hold on the bird lessened. Without warning, the creature let go and swerved away. Natalie screamed as she realized that she was now flying towards the sunny fields far below. She was falling, falling, falling, and suddenly, not quite sure how it happened, Natalie found herself lying on her back amid a bed of flowers.

She was officially a student of The School for Good.

**Tell me what you think if you read this far, please! To anyone whose name is Monica, do not be offended. I feel I should describe Natalie so, here is her description!**

**12 years old.**

**Auburn hair and green eyes with the pupils rimmed by brown.**

**Yep, that is Natalie's official description! R&R Please!**


	3. Being A Princess

**AAAAAHHHHH! I have two favorites! And two reviews! Wow, I'm really excited. Okay, so I realized that this story could turn really boring or pretty good, so I have to make sure it's the latter. After this chapter (which is the first school day,) when you meet some of the Ever's ,and Never's I'm going to allow you guys to help me choose which student might fail/die per reviews. Also ball dates! Enjoy!**

Being A Princess

Natalie sat up, alarmed. How had she ended up on the ground? And unscathed? The last thing she could remember was zooming towards the earth. She got to her feet and looked around. She was in a wide sunny field with no other soul in sight. The glass castle stood off in the distance with the black one.

Wait, she wasn't alone. When Natalie turned away from the castle, there were suddenly eight gorgeous girls standing nearby with trunks beside them. She gasped as more girls appeared, rising from the earth like some bizarre flower; dark and fair, tall and short, all of them were beautiful. Natalie gazed at them in awe and then turned bright red when she realized that she was standing there with her mouth open like an idiot, shorn hair, dirty face, and in an old nightgown which had gotten wet from the dew on the grass and was now practically see through.

Suddenly, beautiful delicate fairies were everywhere in teams of threes. The went each to a different girl and brushed them off and offered them tea. Natalie was too amazed to drink any of it. In the distance came the sound of bells and the fairies each took hold of their girls' shoulders and flew her to the castle. They traveled quite fast carrying Natalie only four feet above the ground, and soon she found herself at the gates of the shining castle. There they set the girls down and allowed them to continue unassisted.

Natalie paused for a moment to read the mirrored words arching over her head:

_The School for Good_

_Enlightenment and Enchantment_

The awed smile slid from Natalie's face when she remembered where she was. She had been kidnapped from her village, her friends, her family, and her life by the School Master, and now she had to graduate Good School into a fairytale. She followed her classmates through swan-emblazoned doors into a small corridor lined with mirrors. Natalie tilted her head up to look at the ceiling. It was white and full of gorgeous paintings of clouds and cherubs.

"Would you like a handkerchief?"

Natalie tore her eyes from the ceiling to see who was talking to her. It was a rather short girl with big brown eyes and bouncy brown curls. She wore a brown dress with a red pattern covering it. The effect was adorable. Natalie gave an embarrassed smile.

"Yes, thank you," she said taking it and hastily wiping her face. "My name's Natalie."

"I'm Skye of Foxwood. Where are you from?"

Natalie only had time to give her a confused look before a seven foot nymph called to the waiting girls, "Welcome, New Princesses. Welcome to the School for Good."

She opened the doors to a magnificent entrance hall. In each of the corners was a spiral staircase lined with, presumably, the teachers; two were blue and had the names HONOR and VALOR on them, wile the two pink ones had PURITY and CHARITY. On each of the walls was a letter. Natalie spelled out the word: E V E R. In the middle was a white marble obelisk filled with gold, silver, and bronze portraits of former students.

The girls formed a line and were handed their schedule, course books, and robes. Natalie's schedule read:

_Natalie of Woods Beyond_

"So you're a Reader?" said Skye, looking over her shoulder. Natalie shrugged in response, as she didn't know.

_GOOD, 1st Year_

_Purity Tower 52_

_Class _ Instructor_

_ 1: Animal Communication _ Prof. Rita Rosebud_

_2: Good Deeds _ Prof. Clarissa Dovey_

_3: Beautification _ Princess Daylight_

_4: Princess Etiquette _ Pollux_

_5: Lunch _ _

_6: History of Heroism _ Prof. August Sader_

_7: Surviving Fairy Tales _ Sali the Nereid_

_(Forest Group #7)_

The next nymph handed her a basket of books:

_The Privilege of Beauty_

_Winning Your Prince_

_The Recipe Book for Good Looks_

_Princess with a Purpose_

_Animal Speech 1: Barks, Neighs, & Chirps._

_A Student's History of the Woods_

Natalie was itching to start reading them; any book was a good book, to her.

The last nymph handed Natalie her uniform. It was a pink pinafore (or jumper, whatever floats your boat) with the sleeves decorated with carnations and a white button-up blouse which came down too low for Natalie's liking. All of the other princesses had already dressed and were now finding their towers and heading to their rooms.

"Come on, Natalie," said Skye beaming with excitement. "We're both in Purity tower, let's go!"

Natalie pulled her uniform over her nightgown hastily as she followed Skye up the stairs. Each with one trunk in hand, as Natalie had none and Skye had two, the climbed the stairs and counted doors.

"11, 12, I guess the put the level and then the room in ascending order. Yep! 21, 22," Skye counted happily. "Hey! We have the same schedule! Awesome! Wouldn't it be just perfect if we were roommates! Maybe we can switch? 31, 32, lot of stairs here, 41 and 42! This is my room. See you at the Welcoming! By Natalie!" Skye took both trunks and the door closed behind her.

Natalie grinned. She was glad that she at least had a friend. She climbed up the last flight of stairs and went into room 52. A sign on the door said: _Welcome, Tanya, Natasha, and Natalie!_ Natalie's eyes stung with tears when she read her mothers name, remembering that she would never see her again.

Tanya, a tall girl with sleek black hair and almond shaped eyes of chocolate brown, came from Pasha Dunes and had the air of a "holier-than-thou" person. Tanya unpacked her belongings and stored them in her dresser while Natalie found that her dresser was already filled with all the clothes a princess could ever need or want. Natalie was preparing to clean herself up and redress using some of her new clothes, when the door banged open and in strode Natasha.

She was breathtakingly gorgeous with curly black hair done up in an elaborate hairstyle. Her eyes practically glowed green, and something about her seemed strangely familiar. . . .

"Hi! I'm Natasha of Idlewild, but you can call me Nat, or Tasha," she said immediately upon entrance with an energetic smile. Her behavior suggested having been the center of attention her whole life. She chattered on a bit with Tanya and Natalie went back to her previous occupation, when suddenly she turned around at Natasha's words.

"I'm the daughter of King Sebastian and Queen Anya, they come from one of the most famous fairytales of -"

"Was your mother from Woods Beyond?" Natalie asked urgently.

Natasha looked surprised. "Yes," she said, cheeks tingeing with red. "But her tale, The Little Mermaid, was extremely famous and she was one of the best students from Good ever."

Natalie's mouth was dry from excitement. "I'm from Woods Beyond too, my mother had a sister named Anya who was taken. I think she was your mother! My mothers name is Natasha."

"My mother did say I was named after my aunt. Cool! We're cousins!" Natasha beamed at Natalie and resumed her conversation with Tanya.

Natalie was beside herself with excitement. Her cousin was her roommate! (Maybe)

_And mother will never know._

Natalie sobered. It was true. Her mother would never know about Natasha except when her story was written. And she would never hear about her, Natalie, until she completed her fairytale.

Natalie was fully dressed and attempting to walk in high heels. Every time she took a step, she wobbled and her foot fell inward. She had succeeded in nothing except twisting her right ankle for a third time, when they had to leave for the Welcoming. Tanya, who had apparently noticed Natalie's predicament, handed her a pair of old, black flats which, beside being a bit too big, suited her just fine.

Natasha linked arms with both girls and led them down the stairs, talking cheerily the whole time.

"Hey! Natalie!" called Skye from the bottom of the stairs. "Catch up!"

Natalie excused herself politely and attempted to rush after Skye when Natasha caught her arm.

"Oh please, cousin," she pleaded. "Stay with us!"

"Well," explained Natalie. "I was just going to catch up with my friend and we can all sit togeth-"

"So you choose a girl you've just met over your own flesh and blood," Natasha said looking hurt. She let go of Natalie's arm and shook her head. "You disgust me."

Natalie was shocked, and a bit guilty. She was about to rejoin Natasha when she linked arms with a girl with flaxen hair and breezed past Natalie. Natalie was flabbergasted. She stood still for a second, before running down the stairs, pass Natasha, and caught up with Skye.

"Hi!" she said. "These are my roommates Grace and Miriam."

Skye's roommates were as pleasant as she was and they talked and laughed the whole way to the Theater of Tales.

The School for Good entered from the west, while the School for Evil came from the east. Each school had a separate side. Natalie and her friends were some of the first to enter.

Natalie examined the glass benches, crystal friezes, and glass flowers. "Is everything made of glass here?" she wondered aloud.

Before anyone could answer, the doors on the other side banged open and in tromped the Evil students. Natalie gasped. They looked so _evil_. She had thought that the Evil students learned to be evil, but no, they perfected their evil. There was a girl with glowing red eyes and dreadlocks, another that was hunched and twisted horribly, a boy who had pointed teeth, and one child entirely covered in scales with slits for pupils. And more came. It was an endless stream of cursed, forsaken creatures conjured from nightmares. Natalie got only a glimpse of Monica.

More students were coming in, so the four friends quickly took their seats near the entrance, as far away from the ghastly Never's as possible. Unfortunately, Natasha decided to sit in the row right in front of them. She already had her own fan club going. She was surrounded by five of the prettiest girls in Good, Tanya, however, sat in the front. _Guess they aren't friends anymore._

Natalie touched her ragged hair self conscientiously. She wished that it was back to its normal length. Almost every girl had long hair like hers had been, and those with short hair had it styled adorably; her hair was just uneven and short.

"Oh, don't worry," said Skye, noticing Natalie's expression. "I'm sure we can find a recipe for a hair growth potion in the library, and if you just want it even, I can fix that." She pulled a tiny pair of scissors from her purse a began snipping away at Natalie's hair. Natalie examined her work in a mirror and couldn't find a fault in it, as she told a blushing Skye. Sure, it was short, but it was better than before.

Eventually, Natalie noticed that though half of the Evil students were boys, the wasn't a single boy to be found among the Ever's. That's when she heard it. From the corridor leading to the Theater, came the sounds of sword fighting and laughing that unmistakably belonged to what must be the male population of Good. Everyone else heard and immediately whipped out hand mirrors and checked their make up. The doors burst open again and in came the boys, fighting playfully with each other. All of them were as gorgeous as the girls, yet as masculine as they were feminine. As they fought faster and faster, Natalie noticed them sneaking looks at the girls between moves. They ended and turned simultaneously and called, "Milady" and each flung a rose to the girl they had noticed the most. Natalie was sitting with an amused smile as she watched them (it was completely obvious it was pre-planned), and was so surprised when a rose landed in her own lap that she didn't see who threw or, indeed, if it was even aimed at her. She also noticed that Natasha and her blonde friend got at least eight each.

Skye hadn't caught any, Miriam was gushing about the handsome dark skinned boy who gave her his, named Kevin apparently, and Grace blushingly admitted that she had caught the rose of a boy from her town who had been aiming at someone else, Anthony was his name.

The girls tried to guess whose rose Natalie had, which was quite difficult owing to the fact that the Never's were jeering on the top of their lungs, when a two headed dog took the stage and said, "Welcome, to the School for Good and Evil."

**(I will not write out an entire Welcoming speech, so you can just go read it from the book and too bad for you if you haven't read the book, you shouldn't be reading this story.)**

Since the Welcoming, Natalie was hoping that Natasha wouldn't turn out to be her cousin. However, when Natasha took out painted portraits of her parents, Natalie was forced to admit that her mother was, indeed, the girl on the missing poster. Natasha seemed to have forgotten the dispute on the stairs, and was chatting away happily, though Natalie didn't listen, and she doubted Tanya did either.

"Here are your shoes back," said Natalie. "Thanks for letting me use them."

Tanya barely glanced at them. "Keep them, they don't fit anymore."

"Actually," piped up Natasha. "I think that you should learn to wear high heels. After all, every _true_ princess can run, let alone walk, in the highest of heels."

Natalie was offended by the way Natasha said 'true', so she thanked Tanya for the shoes, and Natasha for the advice. and climbed into bed without another word.

Natalie curled under her covers. She wasn't sure she liked this place. She had grown up with her older brother; it was he who taught her to read. She had grown up more like a boy than a girl, but here, everything girl-related was pink and fluffy. The girls weren't even going to be allowed to learn to fight! She never had been able to stand the stupidity and helplessness of princesses in storybooks, now, however, she felt sorry for them. She was in the exact position they had been in.

oOo

The next day, Natalie learned another thing about princesses: They take forever to dress. As Natalie finished her breakfast at 8:30, the other girls finally came flooding in, with just enough time to grab a piece of toast before they all had to hurry to their first class. Natalie, Skye and Grace tramped outside for Animal Communication (Miriam had Good Deeds first). It was a beautiful day, as it always was over in good, and Natalie was excited for school. Mother had always said it was bad to dwell on the past, so Natalie was determined not to dwell on Gavaldon.

Animal Communication was taught by one of the dean of the School for Good, Professor Rosebud, on the banks of Halfway Bay. Just like everyone in the school, she had a sweet, kind face and blue eyes full of understanding, her white hair was pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck.

"Good morning, class," she said. "I am here to teach you the ancient most traditional weapon of a princess: Animal Communication. Now, I know all of you doubt this power, that you can't see what good a fox could do against an ogre, and I am here to change that."

With that, she gave a high pitched whistle, which was immediately answered by a torrent of barks, neighs, yips, and growls which made all the girls jump and cover their ears.

"In my class, you will learn to speak to the animals. This is essential, as there will always be animals around, even when a prince is not. Every animal you meet, that is not a creature of evil that is, will help you as they wish they had been helped when they were human. You must also understand this: a third of you will become an animal, and it will be your duty to help and protect any prince or princess you see. Now, it is traditional to start the first day with the easiest animal to communicate to, wish fish!"

Natalie tried to react the same way as the other girls were, but she was frightened by Professor Rosebud's speech.

"For today's challenge, you will all go, one by one, to the fish and place you finger inside. The fish will read your soul and form your hearts greatest desire. The clearer your wish, the better your score. Who would like to go first?"

Before anyone could say anything, a girl in the front row had jumped up squealing and begged, "Please can I go first? Please, please, _please_?"

Professor Rosebud smiled, "Yes Uma, you may go first. Everyone form a line behind her, please!"

Grinning giddily, Uma rushed forward and placed half her arm in the water. The little white fish paused for a second, before clumping together, changing colors, and forming . . .

The face of a boy

Uma squealed. "Brandon! He threw me his rose!"

Natalie raised an eyebrow. This is what fairytale princesses wish for? Apparently.

Augusta, however, was confused, and couldn't wish for anything. Blythe was torn between Matthew and Arnold. Grace wished for Anthony. Elle for Howard. Aimee for Johan. Elvira for Jacob. Almira was confused. Natasha's blonde friend, Daria, wished for Matthew. Natasha drew a fabulous picture of her celebrating Happily Ever After with the son of a king, Aidan. Skye, however, had a picture of a farm with an small white house; she stood in front of it hand in hand with a faceless man.

"I don't want to rule a kingdom," she explained to a confused Rita Rosebud. "I just want to live Happily Ever After with my true love (I don't know who it is yet), and be a farmer's wife."

Natalie went next. She wasn't last, so she hoped that the fish found out what her hearts desire was quickly. She wasn't sure herself.

Professor Rosebud was shaking her head as the fish were confused, when Natalie realized what her wish was. Instantly, the fish clumped together and formed, with more surety than anyone else, a picture. When it was finished, the class fell silent, and Natalie felt her eyes begin to sting.

It was her kitchen. Mother was kneading dough while father sat at the table drinking coffee. Thomas was walking through the door with a bag of flour on his shoulder, and the twins were lying on the floor reading storybooks. Natalie was in it too. She was sitting at the table, with her hair her normal length, laughing with happiness. Natalie stared at it. She could feel a tear falling down her cheek and she withdrew her hand. The fish dispersed and changed back to white.

_Let go of the past. Live in the present._ Natalie told herself. _You're a princess now._

But Natalie knew, as she stepped aside to let the next girl go, that deep inside, she was still just a baker's daughter, and nothing could ever change that.

"That was a beautiful wish," whispered Skye. "I know you'll get first place."

Natalie nodded dumbly. When everyone had finished, Natalie had indeed gotten first with Natasha and Daria close runners up. Skye didn't care that she was placed number thirteen, and brushed it off with her usual cheerfulness.

Next was Good Deeds taught by Professor Dovey. All the girls tittered excitedly: this was their first boy/girl class; even Skye was excited.

Natalie felt that all their excitement was for nothing because the boys sat on one side, and the girls sat on another. They didn't mingle once, and all they did was take notes about the creativity, feasibility, and spontaneity of true good deeds (Only one challenge a week). Natalie found it extremely interesting.

They had a short break where they met up with Miriam and traipsed of to the library to read about hair growth potions. Then they all hurried off to Beautification.

Beautification was taught by Princess Daylight. She was a young woman of about twenty with golden hair and blue eyes. She wasted no time in telling them about her fairytale. Apparently, before she was freed from a curse, she grew beautiful as the moon waxed, and old and ugly when it waned. She was cursed to sleep during the day, and stay awake during the night (She therefore made her classroom the brightest in the school). Due to her famed beauty, she had been asked to teach at the School for Good for one year only.

"So enjoy my beauty tips while you can," she giggled.

For the first class, they practiced "Kinder Smiles." You needed a gentle smile, but not too small, and wide eyes, but not too big. Natalie had figured that Beautification would be a breeze; instead, she was placed number eight. Natasha and Daria placed second and third again while, to everyone's surprise, Skye won first place with Princess Daylight declaring it was the most perfect Kinder Smile she had ever seen in her life.

Princess Etiquette was what Natalie had been dreading the most. Just the name sent images of curtsying and embroidering. She was not disappointed. Pollux arrived alone on his body and began laying out the basic rules of being a princess. For their first challenge, they had to walk up and down the staircases in the foyer while balancing a nest of Nightingale eggs on their head.

While everyone was getting used to the feeling, Natasha and Daria began practically running up and down the stairs, smiling at the other girls' gapes, as not a single egg even cracked.

"Atrocious behavior!" chastised Pollux. "Princesses always walk slowly, calmly, and with dignity."

Immediately, the two girls slowed to the perfect princess walk, but the damage was done. A battered 16 and 17 appeared over their heads. The sulked in a corner as the other girls walked slowly, calmly, and with dignity. To her delight, Natalie placed fourth, having only slightly cracked one egg as it changed position. Skye was place nineteenth having broken two eggs, cracked another, and dropping but managing to catch a fourth.

Before lunch, Skye, Natalie, Grace, and Miriam went to Professor Rosebud to ask about the reliability potions. Lucky for them they did, as Professor Rosebud informed them that, although hair related potions are the most dependable, it would be unwise to try anything until they were "unlocked." Laughing at their near mistake, they all tramped down to the Clearing for lunch. Good received willow baskets from nymphs in red hood, while Evil got buckets of gruel from wolves. Natalie felt sorry for them.

They had barely sat down when Natasha rushed up.

"Oh, dear cousin," she said. "You have to come meet my brother. Come along."

Natasha dragged Natalie like a prisoner to the side of the Clearing where the boys were playing.

"Marcus! Marcus! Come here! This is my roommate Natalie, and she's the daughter of Mother's sister in the Woods Beyond!"

Marcus had black hair and brown eyes, just like the painting of Natasha's father. He looked older than the other boys and was much taller.

"Really?" he asked curiously. "Well, it's nice to meet you Natalie. How is your mother doing?"

Natasha kept all three of them talking, although it was obvious that neither wanted to. After what felt like hours, Marcus was called back to his game, and Natalie took this short distraction to flee back to the tree where her had friends sat. They spent the next couple minutes discussing boys (Natalie simply listened) and trying to guess what their color would be when they were unlocked.

They had almost decided Skye's when one of they boys gave a shout of warning, and they all turned around in time to see the ball flying towards them, and a random Never walking by. The Never dodged the ball, but his bucket didn't make it. Natalie had just enough time to shriek, before she was splattered head to toe in the _something_ from the Never's lunch. There was dead silence around the Clearing for a second, and then all of the Never's burst out laughing and jeering.

Natalie kept her eyes shut tight, both against the sludge and her tears. She groped for a napkin and wiped her face. She looked to her friends only to see them covering their mouths and quite red in the face. Skye couldn't hold it in any longer. She rolled on the ground laughing until tears came; Miriam and Grace soon followed. Slowly, the Ever's side started laughing as well. Natalie tried valiantly to join in, but couldn't even crack a smile. Her first day of school, and already she was the joke of both schools. Tears were brimming in her eyes, and she felt herself wanting to shrink into nothingness, to disappear, to vanish, to be forgotten, and then, quite suddenly, Skye shrieked.

Natalie whipped around, trying to find the source of the disturbance, only to see all the other children staring at her. On a sudden impulse, Natalie looked down at herself, only she wasn't there. She _had_ vanished. Where she should have been, there was only an indent in the grass, and the occasional drip of gruel. Surprised, Natalie decided, also on sudden impulse, to release the clenching in her gut. Immediately, she reappeared. Her friends gasped, a sound Natalie heard echoed around the Clearing. Natalie clenched up again, she disappeared, she released, she reappeared. She felt herself grinning.

"No way," said Grace.

"No fair," said Miriam in the same awed voice.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Skye. "Your talent is invisibility!"

Miriam explained briefly about talents, while Ever's crowded around her eager to watch her turn invisible. Natalie could see the Never's scowling over in her direction. Everyone discussed her talent before begging her to try really hard so she could be in the Circus of Talents; the Circus Crown was as good as won.

oOo

Ten minutes later, washed up and dressed in clean clothes, Natalie listened to Miriam explain talents further as they walked down to History.

"Everybody has a talent," she said. "Both Ever's and Never's. They can be as simple as singing well, or shooting, or as impressive as invisibility, like you, or telepathy. Everyone's talent is unique in some way. For instance, I have heard of one person who could turn other objects invisible, another could only turn their body invisible, nothing else, and another who was like a chameleon."

"Cool," said Natalie. Through experimentation, she had already learned that she only turned what she was wearing invisible; Grace guessed that when she was dirty, her magic probably counted it as part of her clothing. "So what's your guys' talents?"

Miriam turned pink. She mumbled something about a surprise.

"I don't know mine yet," said Grace sadly.

"Follow me and I'll show you mine," said Skye before taking off.

She took them to the Clearing, and hunted around for something, before finding what she was looking for in the form of a sapling.

"Watch this," she said excitedly.

She laid a hand on a branch and her eyes seemed to glow. The sapling moved, then it began to grow; not until it grew into one of the biggest trees there did Skye let go. They all stared at it.

"You age things," said Natalie softly.

"No," Skye replied. "I make plants grow." They all looked at the tree a bit longer, before Miriam said, "I'm gonna be late, see you later!"

The other girls departed for history.

Natalie sat impatiently through history; she was really excited for the Surviving Fairy Tales class. Professor Sader was teaching in Evil, so instead they had a former graduate substitute. For the entire period, they listened to Snow White drag them through her story. Even the challenge was boring. Scratch that, there wasn't a challenge. There were only weekly challenges in history, just like Good Deeds, held only on Wednesdays. Natalie felt that she would have died from boredom if she didn't have her talent to play with.

When they were finally let go, they were given five minutes to deposit their bags and meet under their flag by the Blue Forest. Skye and Natalie waited under flag seven as Miriam headed off to group three and Grace to twelve. In their group, there was Daria and Uma, the ditzy girl, and four boys named Brandon, Kevin, Matthew, and Frederick. None of the Never's were their yet.

"You're Marcus' cousin, right?" asked black haired Brandon. Natalie could practically feel Uma's glare.

"Yes," she said.

"Nice. You don't look anything like him, though," he remarked.

"I look like my mother, and he looks like his father. Seeing as they aren't related, I don't think it's surprising," Natalie replied coolly.

"I guess not," he said shrugging. "Aren't you the girl who turns invisible?"

For answer, Natalie did just that. Brandon laughed, and left to talk with the other boys. Natalie stood with Skye while Daria and Uma waltzed over to the boys.

"Look at our Never's," muttered Skye.

In group seven's Never's, there was Monica, Elphaba, a witch with scraggly black hair and green skin, Hazel, the girl with a warped body, and the serpent student that Natalie had seen, Serpentina was her name. Surprise, surprise. The four boys were Dagon, with wickedly pointed teeth, Wraithrage, a boy so big and foul smelling he had to be part ogre, and two white skinned twins named Thorn and Briar; Thorn had red eyes, and Briar had green. They huddled in their own circle, muttering and shooting the Ever's dirty looks.

"Excuse me, students. Class has begun," the soft high pitched voice came from a tiny little Nereid holding a cattail like a staff. "Class please come to order."

"OI!" bellowed Skye at both Ever's and Never's. "SHUT UP AND LISTEN!"

Quite shocked at being addressed in such a way, both sides did.

The Sali the Nereid pursed her lips. "Thank you, Skye. Though next time, please let me handle things. Follow me, class!"

Sali led them through the gates of the Blue Forest, most of the group was snickering.

"That was fantastic," murmured Natalie to Skye.

"Thank you," she replied.

Sali led them through the magnificent blue forest until she came to a little brook.

"Sit down wherever you please," she instructed the class, taking her own place upon a stone. "Now, in this class, I will teach you how to survive when you enter the Endless Woods to find your fairytale. Your most dangerous enemy will be your opposite, either Good or Evil. Every week, we will repeat the challenge of determining which is which. So today, before we start, I am going to introduce the rules."

She dipped the end of her cattail into the water and then waved it through the air. Shimmering words of water formed:

1. The Evil _attack_. The Good _defend_.

2. The Evil _punish_. The Good _forgive_.

3. The Evil _hurt_. The Good _help_.

4. The Evil _take_. The Good _give_.

5. The Evil _hate_. The Good _love_.

She waved her "staff," and the word turned to mist. "You each are on a side, and each side has different rules. You cannot survive your Fairytale if you do not follow your rules. All of these should come naturally to you, though.

"For the first challenge, you will attempt to discern Good from Evil using these rules. The faster you are, the better your score. Who would like to go first? How about you, Elphaba. Come here."

The witch did as she was told, moving warily. Sali put a blindfold around her eyes.

"Now let's see, Uma, and, um, Thorn. Step up."

Sali waved her cattail and instantly, the two were transformed into flamingo's.

Elphaba removed her blindfold and stared. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Find out which is which," exclaimed Sali. "Use the rules."

"Okay. lemmee think," she watched the flamingo's for a minute or two. "This one is the Princess," she said confidently striding up and grasping one around the neck. With a squawk, it was changed back into Thorn, who stumbled away gasping.

Sali shook her head. "Next."

Hilarity mounted as Natalie watched her classmates succeed or fail in the most ludicrous ways. Dagon took longer than Elphaba testing his chickens, then lost patience and kicked them. He found out which was Hazel when she nearly pecked out his eyes. Daria ran out of time trying to decide between unicorns, and Serpentina spent three minutes, the fastest time so far, testing her ogre's, until she correctly guessed who was the Prince.

Sali groaned. "At this rate, you'll all be dead before you even began testing whatever you're up against. Natalie you're next."

Natalie was blindfolded as Sali transformed James and Briar. She removed the blindfold to find herself face to face with the cutest pair of squirrels she had ever seen. She watched them for a moment; both squirrels walked several feet away from each other, and sat down, looking thoroughly sullen. Hit with an idea, Natalie rushed over to an oak tree and climbed around in it until she found a perfect acorn. Hoping her hunch was correct, she squatted down in the middle of them and held out her hands.

She figured that, as squirrels, they would take on the behavior of squirrels and be attracted to nuts. She was not disappointed. Both squirrels came forward slowly until they were on either side of her hand. One looked up at her, with a questioning look. She handed the acorn to that one. Immediately, the other squirrel leapt over her hands and pounced on the one with the acorn, grappling furiously with it. Natalie caught it and held it aloft.

"This one is Briar," she cried. She dropped him as soon as he started transforming back and it was, indeed, Briar.

The class laughed at James who was still clutching the acorn covetously and Sali beamed at Natalie.

"The best one so far!"

When class ended, a golden one exploded over Natalie's head. No one had beaten her.

Natalie and Skye met up Grace and Miriam. The all chatted happily about their lessons. All of them were now Groom Room status and, as there was no homework, they decided to go there.

As they left the Clearing, Skye nudged her and pointed at the scoreboard. Natalie was number two in Good and in both schools.

A smile split her face.

Maybe being a Princess wasn't so bad after all.

**Woo! That was a long chapter. If you finished it, you have to review. Send in comments, praises, suggestions, and flames. Whichever you prefer. School starts next week, so I'll probably be able to get one more chapter up before there are longer spaces in between. Actually, please send in suggestions on ANYTHING, cuz I have no idea what to write next.**

**R&R Please! :D**


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